Tag Archives: ireland

In Part 1 of my visit to Ireland, we visited Dublin and Killarney. In Part 2, we visited another town called Clare, located in the west portion of Ireland.

Day 6 – Travel from Killarney to Clare

It’s about halfway through our trip in Europe. We left Killarney to visit another town called Clare. We ate dinner at our hotel that night.

Claire County

Day 7 – Golf at Trump International Golf Links

The next morning, we drove to Trump International Golf Links in Doonberg, Ireland. It was not very cold, but it was really windy and it was raining. After the game, we had lunch at the club and drove back to our hotel shortly after. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant close by our town.

Trump International Golf Links in Doonberg, Ireland

View of the clubhouse from the first tee.

The course borders the Atlantic Ocean.

Day 8 – Hike in Clare

During our last day in Clare, we did a hike with a tour guide and some other people from our hotel. The guide explained to us a bit of the history of Ireland. He described almost all the plants and flowers of the area.

Day 9 – Travel from Clare to Dublin

We spent our last day in Ireland back to Dublin at the same hotel than we were the week before. Again, we walked around the beautiful streets of the city and visited for the last time. I enjoyed walking in the different towns we visited over the past week. They all have a cool small village with small shops and restaurants.

Dublin, Ireland

Day 10 – Travel from Ireland to Canada

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER (76W) at Toronto-Pearson International Airport

It was an amazing journey, but it is time to head back home! Our flight was at 10:30 in the morning. This time we flew with Air Canada Rouge to Toronto (YYZ). We cleared Canadian customs in Toronto and then boarded our 50-minute flight to Montreal.

Now that my internship is over, I have a week of vacation before heading to Daytona Beach for my third year of university. Over the past week, I visited Ireland with my family. This is first part of a two-part story.

Day 1 – Travel from Canada to Europe

The first day of the trip was a travel day. We first flew in the evening from Montreal (YUL) to London (LHR) on an Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER. We landed the next morning in London and had a two-hour layover before catching a flight to Dublin (DUB). The flight was operated by Air Canada’s partner Aer Lingus.

Appetizer was served after takeoff on the flight to LHR: smoked trout Niçoise said with roasted garlic aïoli.

Day 2 – Travel from London to Dublin and Arrival

My family and I arrived at our hotel in downtown Dublin at around noon. For our first lunch in Europe, we had tea accompanied with an assortment of sandwiches, scones, and pastries. It was pretty good! In the afternoon, we walked and explored the city. We ate our first dinner at our hotel.

Walking in the streets of Dublin.

Restaurants, bars, cafés, and shops.

Day 3 – Guided Tour of Dublin

The next day we had a private guide to show us the city and its culture. We toured the city with the guide for about three hours before heading to lunch.

Trinity University

Christ Church Cathedral

Day 4 – Travel from Dublin to Killarney

We rented a car and drove from Dublin to Killarney. It was a four-hour drive south west of the capital city. One big thing that is different in Ireland unlike most countries in the world is that people drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. It can get confusing, especially at road intersections. Also the roads there are really narrow.

The speed limit on these roads can be up to 100 km/h (62 mph)!

We arrived at our new hotel at noon. After lunch, we took a walk close to our hotel. The concierge said that the 10-kilometer trail would take us an hour but it actually took way more than that! The views were amazing though.

View from our hotel.

View of our hotel.

Day 5 – Golf at Waterville

The next day we drove to a small town named Kerry. We had to wake up at 5 in the morning because we had an early 7:50 tee time, and the golf course was located at about 1 hour drive from our location. We played 18 holes at the Waterville Golf Links. It was very windy and cold and we lost many golf balls.

Waterville Golf Links

The course is recognize as one of the best in Ireland.

In Part 2 (Days 6 to 10), I will go over the second part of the trip which brings us to a new destination in Ireland. Playing another round of golf and hiking is on the menu.

Official Day 2 has just ended and it’s 10pm in Belfast right now, but feels like it’s 5pm! Most of us arrived in Belfast on Sunday. After a 6 hour flight, sleep deprived, hungry, and after having an interesting encounter with customs, we were ready to go to bed. Of course, with the time change, we couldn’t until later that night. So, that day we walked around the streets of Belfast gathering up Belgium chocolates, last minute essentials, and a crazy amount of shepherds pie. Our hostel, the Vagabonds, is extremely nice and is filled with various free souls (mostly students) from all over the world. Every hall is decorated with historical pieces of Belfast and sprinkled memories. It’s cozy and quaint. I couldn’t complain.

Inside the hostel

Downtown Belfast

For the beginning portion of Summer A, us students took two main courses: HS 405, Emerging Topics In Homeland Security and HS 325, Terrorism: Ideologies, Origins, and Goals. We mostly discussed the time of the Troubles here in Belfast, the time of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and their experiences with the British Government.

Signing the Peace Wall(this peace wall was intended to separate the Catholics from the Protestants during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The city people do not plan on taking the wall down anytime soon.)

Yesterday, we had two political tours around the city of Belfast; one tour from an ex member of the IRA and the other from an ex member of the UUP. To say the least, it was a very interesting experience because we got to hear both sides of the story during the times of the Troubles.

Oldest pub in Belfast

Today, we went to Queen’s University for a lecture. The University was beautiful! We listened to two professors from the Institute of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice; they mostly spoke about the time of the Troubles here in Northern Ireland. We certainly gained a few gems of wisdom on the conflict.

City Hall

Tomorrow, we’ll be hopping over to Giant’s Causeway for a tour of a great volcanic plateau on the ocean and experience old Irish castles and whiskey tasting. Thursday, we head to Normandy, France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

If you are interested in studying somewhere outside the US, definitely consider it for the future. You will gain a completely different perspective on not only social aspects, but also academics as well. And take the risk of going to somewhere foreign to you! The leap is totally worth it, after all.

Here’s a great quote on growth: “It is not that we love to be alone, but that we love to soar, and when we do soar, the company grows thinner and thinner until there is none at all. …We are not the less to aim at the summits though the multitude does not ascend them.”- Henry David Thoreau

Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and get uncomfortable. Safety does not always lie in security, which is why we grow when we are in unfamiliar situations. Allow yourself the chance for that growth.
Keep you posted.